Sigv Vestv 7^I

Knútr spurði mik mæta
mildr, ef hônum vildak
hendilangr sem hringa
hugreifum Ôleifi.
Einn kvaðk senn, en sǫnnu
svara þóttumk ek, dróttinn
— gefin eru gumna hverjum
góð dœmi — mér sœma.

Knútr, mildr mæta, spurði mik, ef vildak hendilangr hônum sem Ôleifi, hugreifum hringa. Kvaðk einn dróttinn senn sœma mér, en þóttumk ek svara sǫnnu; góð dœmi eru gefin hverjum gumna.

Knútr, generous with treasures, asked me if I wanted [to be] of service to him as to Óláfr, bountiful with rings. I declared that one lord at a time was fitting for me, and I thought I answered truthfully; good examples are given to every man.

Mss: Kˣ(418v), J2ˣ(201v) (Hkr); Holm2(54v), 972ˣ(399va), 321ˣ(192), 73aˣ(165v), 68(52r), Holm4(48vb-49ra), 61(113vb), 75c(35r), 325V(61vb), Bb(183vb), Flat(116rb), Tóm(141v) (ÓH)

Readings: [1] mæta: so Holm2, 321ˣ, 61, ‘metra’ Kˣ, J2ˣ, mætra 972ˣ, 73aˣ, 68, Holm4, 325V, mætir 75c, Bb, Flat, mæra Tóm    [2] ef hônum vildak (‘ef ec honum vilda’): hví eigi vildak 321ˣ, ‘[…] æk hanum vilda’ 68, ef ek hônum vildat Holm4, Tóm    [3] hendilangr: ‘[…]langr’ 68    [5] Einn: ei 61;    kvaðk (‘qvad ec’): kvað Holm4, kveð ek Tóm;    senn: ‘[...]enn’ 68;    en: so Holm2, enn Kˣ, J2ˣ, at 321ˣ, 73aˣ, Holm4, 61, 75c, 325V, Bb, Flat, Tóm, ‘(en)’(?) 68;    sǫnnu: ‘s[…]’ 68    [6] svara þóttumk ek dróttinn: ‘sv[…]þott[…]’ 68;    þóttumk ek: þóttumz vel 321ˣ, 73aˣ;    dróttinn: drótni 61, 325V    [7] gefin: gǫr Holm2, 972ˣ, 321ˣ, 73aˣ, 61, 325V, ‘[…]’ 68, góð Holm4, Bb, Flat, ‘(god)’(?) 75c, gnóg Tóm;    eru: er 61    [8] góð: gnóg Holm2, 68, Holm4, 61, 75c, 325V, Bb, Flat;    dœmi: ‘d[…]i’ 68;    sœma: so J2ˣ, 321ˣ, 73aˣ, Holm4, 61, 75c, 325V, Bb, Flat, Tóm, sóma Kˣ, Holm2, ‘[…]ma’ 68

Editions: Skj AI, 243, Skj BI, 227-8, Skald I, 118, NN §635; Hkr 1893-1901, II, 381, IV, 148, ÍF 27, 293-4, Hkr 1991, II, 466 (ÓHHkr ch. 160); ÓH 1941, I, 455 (ch. 152), Flat 1860-8, II, 288; Jón Skaptason 1983, 110, 252.

Context: King Óláfr has heard of Sigvatr’s visit to Knútr (cf. st. 2) and asks Sigvatr whether he is his man or Knútr’s. After speaking the stanza, Sigvatr is restored to favour.

Notes: [1-4]: The two main possible analyses of the helmingr are problematic, though its overall sense is clear. (a) The analysis above follows Kock (NN §635) in adopting the reading mæta (n. gen. pl.) ‘of/with treasures’. Although this occurs in only one medieval ms., 61, the majority reading mætra could represent an attempt to produce a more exact hending with Knútr. Kock suggests a parallelism between mildr mæta ‘generous with treasures’ and hugreifr hringa ‘bountiful with rings’, lit. ‘mind-glad with (in giving away) rings’. The phrase hugreifr hringa is unparalleled, but not impossible, since reifa can mean ‘to bestow’, reifr can mean ‘cheerfully hospitable’, and reifir can mean ‘presenter’ as in Edáð Banddr 2/3, 4 handa logreifis ‘presenter of the flame of hands [(lit. ‘flame-presenter of hands) GOLD > GENEROUS MAN]’. (b) The reading mætra (gen. pl.) ‘excellent’ in l. 1 could be retained if construed with hringa ‘of rings’ in l. 3 (so Skj B). However, this entails that hringa separates the conj. sem ‘as’ from the phrase it introduces, and produces a caesura in an exceptional position (cf. Gade 1995a, 212). — [7, 8] góð dœmi eru gefin ‘good examples are given’: The variant reading gnóg dœmi eru gǫr ‘enough examples are provided’, found in several good mss, also makes good sense. As to what the examples might be, Bjarni Aðalbjarnarson (ÍF 27) tentatively refers to Sigv Lv 14, which he takes to refer to the Fall of the rebellious angels (see Note), but loyalty to one’s lord is in any case a constant theme in early Norse poetry.

References

1. Bibliography
2. Skj B = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1912-15b. Den norsk-islandske skjaldedigtning. B: Rettet tekst. 2 vols. Copenhagen: Villadsen & Christensen. Rpt. 1973. Copenhagen: Rosenkilde & Bagger.
3. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
4. NN = Kock, Ernst Albin. 1923-44. Notationes Norrœnæ: Anteckningar till Edda och skaldediktning. Lunds Universitets årsskrift new ser. 1. 28 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
5. Gade, Kari Ellen. 1995a. The Structure of Old Norse dróttkvætt Poetry. Islandica 49. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.
6. Flat 1860-8 = Gudbrand Vigfusson [Guðbrandur Vigfússon] and C. R. Unger, eds. 1860-8. Flateyjarbók. En samling af norske konge-sagaer med indskudte mindre fortællinger om begivenheder i og udenfor Norge samt annaler. 3 vols. Christiania (Oslo): Malling.
7. ÓH 1941 = Johnsen, Oscar Albert and Jón Helgason, eds. 1941. Saga Óláfs konungs hins helga: Den store saga om Olav den hellige efter pergamenthåndskrift i Kungliga biblioteket i Stockholm nr. 2 4^to med varianter fra andre håndskrifter. 2 vols. Det norske historiske kildeskriftfond skrifter 53. Oslo: Dybwad.
8. ÍF 26-8 = Heimskringla. Ed. Bjarni Aðalbjarnarson. 1941-51.
9. Hkr 1893-1901 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1893-1901. Heimskringla: Nóregs konunga sǫgur af Snorri Sturluson. 4 vols. SUGNL 23. Copenhagen: Møller.
10. Hkr 1991 = Bergljót S. Kristjánsdóttir et al., eds. 1991. Heimskringla. 3 vols. Reykjavík: Mál og menning.
11. Jón Skaptason. 1983. ‘Material for an Edition and Translation of the Poems of Sigvat Þórðarson, skáld’. Ph.D. thesis. State University of New York at Stony Brook. DAI 44: 3681A.
12. Internal references
13. (forthcoming), ‘ Heimskringla, Óláfs saga helga (in Heimskringla)’ in Diana Whaley (ed.), Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 1: From Mythical Times to c. 1035. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 1. Turnhout: Brepols, p. . <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=152> (accessed 23 April 2024)
14. Russell Poole (ed.) 2012, ‘Eyjólfr dáðaskáld, Bandadrápa 2’ in Diana Whaley (ed.), Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 1: From Mythical Times to c. 1035. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 1. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 457.
15. R. D. Fulk (ed.) 2012, ‘Sigvatr Þórðarson, Lausavísur 14’ in Diana Whaley (ed.), Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 1: From Mythical Times to c. 1035. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 1. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 716.